PASSINGS: Andy Whitfield, Frank Warner

CaptionEva Zeisel

Talisman Brolin / Chronicle Books

Eva Zeisel was a ceramic artist and designer known for her tableware. Few who admired her often-abstract designs knew that she had been imprisoned as a young woman in the Soviet Union and later forced to flee Nazi-occupied Austria. She was 105. Full obituary

Eva Zeisel was a ceramic artist and designer known for her tableware. Few who admired her often-abstract designs knew that she had been imprisoned as a young woman in the Soviet Union and later forced to flee Nazi-occupied Austria. She was 105. Full obituary (Talisman Brolin / Chronicle Books)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the mercurial strongman who styled himself as a "Dear Leader" while ruling over an impoverished police state, defied and baffled the world with his nuclear aims and bizarre actions. He was 69. Full obituary

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the mercurial strongman who styled himself as a "Dear Leader" while ruling over an impoverished police state, defied and baffled the world with his nuclear aims and bizarre actions. He was 69. Full obituary (Dmitry Astakhov / Itar-Tass / Abaca Press / MCT)

A former dissident playwright, Havel was the revered first president of Czechoslovakia after it overthrew Communist rule in 1989. His slogan: "May truth and love triumph over lies and hatred." He was 75. Full obituary

A former dissident playwright, Havel was the revered first president of Czechoslovakia after it overthrew Communist rule in 1989. His slogan: "May truth and love triumph over lies and hatred." He was 75. Full obituary (Petr David Josek / Associated Press)

The British American's polemical writings on religion, politics, war and other hot-button topics established him as a leading public intellectual. His openness about having cancer elicited thousands of letters and emails to Vanity Fair, where he was a longtime contributor. He was 62. Full...

The British American's polemical writings on religion, politics, war and other hot-button topics established him as a leading public intellectual. His openness about having cancer elicited thousands of letters and emails to Vanity Fair, where he was a longtime contributor. He was 62. Full... (Christian Witkin / TwelveBooks)

Whitfield, who was born in Wales and lived in Australia, was a virtual unknown when he was cast as the title hero in "Spartacus," a hit original series for the Starz network that made headlines with its graphic violence and sexuality.

Whitfield was preparing for the second season when he was diagnosed 18 months ago.

In January the network announced that another Australian actor, Liam McIntyre, would take over the role.

Frank Warner

Movie sound-effects man

Frank Warner, 85, who received a special achievement award in 1978 from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his sound effects editing on Steven Spielberg's science fiction classic "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," died Aug. 31 in Sedona, Ariz., his family announced. The cause was not given.

Warner, who had an extensive library of sound effects, was lauded for his work on Martin Scorsese's 1982 film "Raging Bull" about boxer Jake La Motta.

FOR THE RECORD: Frank Warner: A brief obituary of sound effects editor Frank Warner in the Sept. 12 LATExtra section said that one of the films he worked on, "Raging Bull," was released in 1982. It came out in 1980. —

His long list of film credits also includes "Little Big Man," "Harold and Maude," "Paper Moon," "Jonathan Livingston Seagull," "Shampoo," "Taxi Driver," "Bound for Glory," "Coming Home," "Being There," "The King of Comedy," "St. Elmo's Fire," "Roxanne," "Baby Boom" and the second, third and fourth "Rocky" films.